The Catalan tactician is anticipating a stern test against Chelsea, when Barca host the Blues in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Pep Guardiola has admitted that it will be quite difficult for his men to oust Chelsea out of the European grand tournament as they were defeated in the first leg of the fixture on Wednesday.
The Barca head coach expressed that as much as he is looking forward to the second leg, he is aware that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786’s advantage cannot be side-lined.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 visited the English capital to lock horns with the English Premier League outfit to play out the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final. To the dismay of the Nou Camp faithful, the Catalans were humbled to a 1-0 defeat by the hosts.
The match which took place at the Stamford Bridge, was heavily competitive and fans witnessed some excellent football from the two semi-finalists.
Both teams created a vast number of chances and a lot of attacking game-play was observed; however, the score remained one-nil until the final whistle.
As the match began, the visitors started to show their intent after they created some good goal-scoring opportunities early on in the game.
On the other hand, the hosts were equally impressive and demonstrated that they have what it takes to take on the current UEFA Champions League title holders.
Although Barca were fairly active in front of goal, it was the home side that scored the opener.
In the dying moments of the first half, Didier Drogba’s strike gave Chelsea the all-important lead and they managed to successfully defend it until the final whistle.
Guardiola has stated that since Chelsea have the advantage after the first leg, they will go into the reverse leg with great confidence.
While talking to reporters, the Spaniard was quoted as saying:
"It's the kind of challenge that you get in the semi-finals of the Champions League - we accept that and we will try to overcome it. We must try to find other ways to generate chances. They defend very deep and we must try to find some inspiration and have
lots of patience. But we created lots of chances.”
"We must try to have 24 chances again and score a goal. We must create a lot to get a goal. We lost despite those numbers - Chelsea had that luck we didn't have.”
The second leg of the semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea will take place at the Nou Camp on Tuesday with both sides have important fixtures to play over the weekend in their respective leagues.
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